Yemen's Houthis launch drone attacks on airports & oil refineries in Saudi Arabia: Report

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saturday, November 20 claimed that they launched 14 bomb-laden drones against several Saudi cities, and the Saudi Aramco facilities in Jeddah, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to retaliate on 13 targets in Yemen as violent confrontation and tensions ensued earlier yesterday, Saudi’s state news agencies reported. In a televised press conference, Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman said that the rebel fighters attacked the Aramco’s refineries in Jeddah and the military targets in Jeddah, Riyadh, Najran, Abha, Jizan in response to the “aggression” by the Saudi-led Arab coalition and its criminal activities in Yemen. 

“We targeted the King Khalid Air Base in Riyadh city with four drones, hitting military targets at the King Abdullah International Airport and Aramco oil refineries in Jeddah city with four drones, striking a military target in Abha International Airport in Abha city with a drone, targeting other military sites in the cities of Jazan, Najran and Abha with five drones,” Houthi army spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a televised statement later broadcasted on defense force’s Al-Masirah TV.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi-led coalition intercepted an explosive-laden drone at the Sanaa World Airport in Yemen launched by the Houthis that recently intensified cross-border missile offensives and drone attacks on Saudi forces. Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the coalition’s retaliatory operation in Yemen destroyed Houthis’ weapons depots, air defence systems, and drones’ communication systems in the capital Sanaa, Saada, and the Marib provinces.

US Special Envoy For Yemen visits Saudi Arabia, Bahrain to discuss Iran's actions

US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Yemen this week travelled to meet allies in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to discuss Iran’s actions in the region. US State Department announced in a statement that US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking was travelling to Riyadh and Manama joining an interagency team to coordinate approaches to regional security and a broad range of concerns with Iran. Lenderking would meet with senior officials on efforts to elevate an inclusive, UN-led peace process in Yemen. The visits came as the United Nations Special Envoy Hans Grundberg asserted that a political process guided by the UN might still be part of a long-term settlement to the war in Yemen. 

Image: AP